Website

Monday, 22 July 2013

A walk on the wild side

You don't have to go on safari to see some spectacular wildlife. If you open you're eyes (and ears) there's plenty to enjoy right under your nose and so I'm delighted to support a new Kickstarter project aimed an encouraging children to explore their native fauna.

WILDLIFE JACK is a plucky explorer of real British animals and the star of a magical new show for 0-6 year olds: “I meet scary things, fluffy things, monsters and giants!”

Jack (who is animated) uses his special ability to talk to animals (documentary) to understand more about nature. Wildlife Jack & His Animal Adventures is Dr Doolittle for the younger generation.

Nonchalant seals and savvy seahorses star in the pilot episode, available now on wildlifejack.com. Everything the animals say is based on their real lives, so other than their ability to talk, they remain as animals.

The creators are parents of two boys, TV producer Ed Kellie and journalist/trainee primary-school teacher Abi Kellie, “We want to make it possible for children, especially urban kids, to encounter real British animals and inspire them to go out and experience local wildlife for themselves.”

Research by Natural England has found that the likelihood of a child visiting any green space at all has halved in a generation. The Kellies hope Jack’s adventures will get kids outdoors and help to reverse this trend.

They now want to make the next 5 episodes to complete their first 6-episode DVD, for sale on their website and as downloads. They have set up a Wildlife Jack Shop of children’s gifts and activities on their Kickstarter.com page to help raise £15,000; half of the production budget. The shop offers everything from the finished films, to real animal-tracking adventures, to hand-drawn portraits by the animator. Under Kickstarter crowdfunding rules, the Kellies must hit their target by 27th July or they receive nothing. If you’d like to support them go to: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1537431379/wildlife-jack-and-his-animal-adventures-for-0-6-ye